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Hell Is Other Robots
:"Don't worry, guys, I'll never be too good or too evil again. From now on, I'll just be me." :―Bender :"Uh... do you think you could be just little less evil than that?" :―Leela :"I don't know. Do you think you could survive a 700 foot fall?" :―Bender "Hell Is Other Robots" is the ninth episode in the first production season, and season finale of the first broadcast season of Futurama. Written by Eric Kaplan and directed by Rich Moore, the episode guest starred Adam Horovitz and Mike D as themselves and Dan Castellaneta as the Robot Devil. The episode explores the various degrees to which humanity tends to regard "religion" by following Bender, a robot. The episode was featured in the Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection DVD box set, and received positive reviews by critics. Plot The story begins with Fry, Leela, and Bender at a Beastie Boys' heads concert, where they are invited backstage afterward by an old acquaintance of Bender's, Fender. While meeting the Beastie Boys, Bender and Fender ditch the "organ sacks" and Bender is introduced to "jacking-on", the dangerous abuse of electricity. Soon Bender's dabbling becomes a full blown addiction to electricity, and he resorts to desperate measures to get his fixes (such as forcing the Planet Express Ship to fly through an electrical storm). After hitting rock bottom, Bender realizes he has a problem and turns to religion for help; joining the Temple of Robotology. He is then baptized in oil and has Robotology's symbol welded onto his chest by Reverend Lionel Preacherbot. While the rest of the Planet Express crew is initially happy that Bender has given up his addiction, they quickly find the new Bender tiresome, and try to bring out their friend's old personality by taking him to Atlantic City and reintroducing him to vice. They succeeded in bringing about the old Bender back, but were unaware that the contract of Robotology stipulates that if Bender sins, he is sent to Robot Hell for all eternity, and soon the Robot Devil abducts him as he seduces several fembots. As Fry and Leela track Bender to The Inferno ride at Reckless Ted's Funland, using Nibbler as a bloodhound, Bender is shown around Robot Hell by the Robot Devil in the form of a song. Eventually Fry and Leela use The Fairness In Hell Act of 2275 to challenge the Robot Devil to a fiddle contest for Bender's soul and a solid gold fiddle. While they are unable to best the devil in musical skill, Leela beats the Devil with the solid gold fiddle and the trio flee Robot Hell with a pair of stolen robotic wings, and Bender promises to be just evil/good enough. Production David X. Cohen and Ken Keeler traveled to New York in order to work with the Beastie Boys but after three days of waiting they gave up and returned to the studios. The audio tracks were recorded at a later date. Adam "MCA" Yauch was unavailable at the time of the recording so only Adam "King Adrock" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond voice themselves in the episode with Horovitz also voicing Yauch. The Beastie Boys perform their 1998 hit single "Intergalactic" and "Super Disco Breakin", the first track off of their album, Hello Nasty. It was initially requested that they perform "Fight for Your Right" but they refused. The episode contains Futurama's first musical number, Robot Hell. The song lyrics were written by Eric Kaplan and Ken Keeler and the music was written by Keeler and Christopher Tyng. In the DVD commentary for the episode, David X. Cohen, Matt Groening, and Eric Kaplan all agreed that they felt comfortable enough with each of the Futurama characters to begin to take them in new and strange directions. They also felt that the writing team had begun to loosen up. Because of their higher comfort level, this episode has a feeling similar to the later episodes in the series more than to the earlier episodes. Enough material was cut from the episode during the editing process to create a three-part episode. The episode features the two major social issues of drug addiction and religious conversion. David X. Cohen noted that Bender's addiction is a perfect example of something they could do with a robot character which they could not get away with had it been a human character. One person at the studio refused to work on this episode because they did not agree with the portrayal of some of the religious content. Themes This episode is one of very few which focus on the religious aspects of the Futurama universe. In most episodes it is indicated that the Planet Express crew, along with most beings in the year 3000, are "remarkably unreligious." It introduces two of the three religious figures of Futurama, the Robot Devil and Reverend Lionel Preacherbot, both of whom make appearances in future episodes. Preacherbot, who speaks in a manner typical of inner-city African-American pastor stereotypes, converts Bender to the religion Robotology. This leads to a series of events which are similar in many ways to the experiences of real world religious converts. Mark Pinsky states that the episode has a "double-edged portrayal of religion" as it portrays both an improvement in Bender's character but also some of the "less pleasant characteristics of the newly pious." The Robot Devil is introduced after Bender's fall back into sin. While explaining to Bender his claim on his soul, he uses logic similar to that used by many Southern Baptists. By the end of the episode Bender has returned to his old ways and states that he will no longer try to be either too good or too bad, a parody and contradiction of the Book of Revelation statement that one should not be lukewarm in their faith. Trivia This episode contains a large amount of religious parody and thus references multiple works of fiction which also have a religious focus. The title of the episode is a riff on the famous line "Hell is other people" from Jean Paul Sartre's one act play No Exit though the episode has little to do with the actual play. The punishments in Robot Hell are similar to the levels and rationale which are portrayed in Dante's The Divine Comedy, specifically the Inferno. The "Fairness in Hell act", wherein one must engage in a fiddle battle to save their soul is taken directly from The Charlie Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". The jokes poking fun at New Jersey in the episode are due to the fact that writer David X. Cohen and actor John DiMaggio both grew up in the Garden State. The Temple of Robotology is a spoof of the Church of Scientology, and according to series creator Matt Groening he received a call from the Church of Scientology concerned about the use of a similar name. Groening's The Simpsons had previously parodied elements of Scientology, in the Season 9 episode "The Joy of Sect". In a review of the episode, TV Squad later posed the question: "Is the Temple of Robotology a poke at the Church of Scientology?" When TV Squad asked actor Billy West about this, he jokingly sidestepped the issue. When Fry and Leela enter the abandoned ride you can see in the corner a heart with the initials H.S & M.B standing for "Homer Simpson" and "Marge Bouvier" Reception This episode, along with its animatic version, is one of four featured in the DVD boxed set Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection, indicating it is one of Matt Groening's four favorite episodes from the series. The DVD includes audio commentary from Matt Groening and John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender—as well as a full-length animatic of "Hell Is Other Robots." In an article on the DVD release, Winston-Salem Journal described "Hell Is Other Robots" as one of Futurama's best episodes. Dan Castellaneta's performance as the Robot Devil in this episode along with the episode "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" was described as a "bravura appearance". In a review of Futurama's season one DVD release, the South Wales Echo highlighted the episode along with "Fear of a Bot Planet" as "crazy episodes" of the series. Writing in The Observer after Futurama's debut in the United States but before it began airing in the United Kingdom, Andrew Collins wrote favorably of the series, and highlighted "Hell Is Other Robots" and "Love's Labors Lost in Space". He noted that the jokes in the episodes "come thick and fast". John G. Nettles of PopMatters gave the episode a favorable review writing: "'Hell is Other Robots' is a terrific introduction to Bender and Futurama's irreverent humor, sly social satire, and damn catchy musical numbers." TV Squad also gave the episode a favorable review noting that the funnier material appears in "robot hell" - after Bender is "born again" in the Temple of Robotology. David Johnson of DVD Verdict described "Hell Is Other Robots" as "Not one of my favorites," and gave it a rating of "B". The episode later also led to a Dark Horse Comics book, Futurama Pop-Out People: Hell Is Other Robots. Quotes Bender: What? Drinking wine is a sin. Even if it is deliciously fortified. Leela: What in hell happened to Bender? Fry: Well he didn't check out. The ashtray's still here. Debut Appearances *Beastie Boys' heads *Fender *Hookerbot 5000 *Robot Devil *Preacherbot See also *Religion in Futurama *Robot Hell (song) References # ^ a b c Moore, Rich. (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" DVD. 20th Century Fox. # ^ a b c d e Cohen, David X.. (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" DVD. 20th Century Fox. # ^ a b c d e f g h Keller, Joel. "Futurama: Hell is Other Robots", TV Squad, AOL Television, July 30, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ a b Groening, Matt. (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" DVD. 20th Century Fox. # ^ Kaplan, Eric. (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" DVD. 20th Century Fox. # ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pinsky, Mark 2003. The Gospel According to the Simpsons. Bigger and possibly even Better! edition, 229-235. ISBN 978-0-664-23265-8. # ^ a b c d Booker, M. Keith. Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy, 115-124. # ^ Mirkin, David. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "The Joy of Sect" DVD. 20th Century Fox. # ^ Turner, Chris (2005). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Da Capo Press, Page 269, The First Church of The Simpsons. ISBN 0-306-81448-X. # ^ Gord Lacey (2005-05-11). Futurama - Do the Robot Dance!. Retrieved on 2007-06-26. # ^ Lane, Joshua. "Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun", AnimatedBliss.com, Joshua Lane & AnimatedBliss.com, February 7, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ Staff. "This week in DVDs: Also New This Week", Eye Weekly, Toronto Star Newspapers Limited., August 25, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ Johns, Anna. "Holiday loot spending guide: DVDs", TV Squad, AOL Television, January 1, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ Staff. "Adam 12 and Emergency Keep Los Angeles Safe In New DVD Sets", Winston-Salem Journal, Factiva, from Dow Jones, August 27, 2005. # ^ Staff. "Win Futurama box set", South Wales Echo, Trinity Mirror, February 2, 2002, pp. Page 9. # ^ a b Collins, Andrew. "Screen: Television: Futurama looks bright: Where do you go after The Simpsons, the TV triumph of the decade? Into the 30th century, as creator Matt Groening unveils his new show, Futurama. Andrew Collins applauds.", The Observer, Guardian Newspapers Limited, August 22, 1999, pp. Page 2. # ^ Nettles, John G.. "Futurama Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection", PopMatters, PopMatters Media, Inc., August 29, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ Johnson, David (August 22, 2005). Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection. DVD Verdict review. David Johnson. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. # ^ Dark Horse Comics (March 2002). Futurama Pop-Out People: Hell Is Other Robots. Diamond Comic Distributors. ISBN 1-56971-672-2 Category:Season One Category:Articles in need of a re-write